Car-brake



(NoModeLj y GAR BRAKE'.

No. 878,898. *Patented Jan, 24, 1888.

y UNITED kSTAfIjEs APATENT FIIICE.

MoRTII/IER B. MILLS AND FRANK w." MILLS, orcHIoAco, ILLINOIS.

CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent 1\T o. 376,898, dated January 24, 18E 8.

Ypnlication filed June 10, 1887. Serial No. 240,868. (No. model.) y

Be it known thatwe, MORTIMER B. MILLS and FRANK W. MILLS, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Car- Brakes; and we hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

Our invention relates to au improvementin the class of car-brakes operated by air; and our object is to provide a mechanism for -setting and releasing the brakes at will through'the medium of pneumatic force, whichmechanism shall be simple, durable, reliable, and eective in its operation, and afford advantages over other devices for the vsame general purpose.

In the drawings, Figure l is a bottom plan view of a freight-.car provided with our improved brake-operating mechanism vin its preferred form; Fig. 2, a brokenlongitudinal section taken through the car-door near its center and showing our improvement in side elevation, and Fig. 3 a similar view of a modified construction. l I

Though our improvement is applicable to cars generally, We design it particularly for use on freight-cars, which are ordinarily provided with brake apparatus only on one truck; and we illustrate and describe ourinvention inthe freight-car connection, for.` which itis especially designed, as aforesaid.

A is a freight-car provided with an ordinary form of brake appliance, comprising brakebeams B at opposite ends of a truck, C, and

, carrying brake-shoes D, levers E and E', each pivotally connected to an adjacent brake-beam to produce a long and a short* arm. relatively on opposite sides of the fulcrums of the two levers, and having the short arms .connected by a rod,-F, a centrally-pivoted lever, G, having one arm connected by alink, H', with the long arm of the leverE, and the other arm, by a link, H, with the long arm of the lever E.

It will be seen on inspecting Fig. 1 of the drawings that by pulling on the arm of the lever G, with which 'the long arm of the lever E is connected, the brakes are set, and that on releasing the lever G from the strain of pulling the/brakes are released, the brakeshoes `falling away from vthe wheels by their own weight. Thepulling and releasing for the purbeams q and q on the bottom of thecar, near 6o its center, by means of strapsy r, whereby it is confined, and maybe shifteda desired distance in either-direction longitudinally of the`ca1. Between the end u 'of the frame I and the beam q is a row ofk spiral springs, K, confined between angle-ironsor ysocketsp, Fig.I 2, on the adjacent'faces of the framey andl beam q, each being on a rod, o, having its bearings in the said beam and adjacent side/.of the frame. The springs Ktend to maintain the ,brakes 7o normally set by connecting the frame I, through the mediumof a rod, L, with the arm of the lever G, connected with the long arm of the lever E, as shown. r

At the opposite end, n', of lthe frame I,"sup` 75 ported on the adjacent side of the beam gf', isan air-tight collapsible and expansible fchamber, M, comprising a dish, M', of semi-cylindrical form, secured to the inner face of the .beam q', and covered bya flexible diaphragm, 8o?.` r

M, formed, preferably, of a sheet of rubber covered with canvas or duck cloth clampednear` the edges, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3to the 'flanged edges of the semi-cylindrical dish,and

aording a yielding bearing for the adjacent 85 end, u, of the frame Iwhicl1 is made of the. semi-cylindrical form shown, or convex, t0 pro' duce complete collapsing of the diaphragm M', in the manner and for the purpose hereinafter described. j 9o The chamber M communicates through a kbranch tube, m, with a pipe, N, running along-Y the bottom of the car, and which is to be coupledto pipes likeit on other cars similar] y equipped, to afforda continuous airconduit 9 5 communicating with the air-pressure, pump on the locomotive, wherethe Supply of air to and the exhaust thereof from the conduit N and chambers M through theY branches m issoon-i trolled in the usual mannerby ordinarymeans.v Ioo To release the brakes air is forced through the conduit N into .the various chambersMon the different cars in a train, expanding the diaphragms M2 and thereby forcing the frame I ina direction to compress the Springs K and releasing the brake-beams from the pull exerted by the rods L. The pneumatic contents of the chambers M are exhausted by suitable manipulation of the proper valve in the pump apparatus on thelocomotive,when the springs K of each frame by their resilience force the frame against thediaphragm M2, thereby pulling the rod L to set the brakes, and the semicylindrical form of the end n of the frame by litting into the dish M insures the complete collapse of the diaphragm M2.

Instead of springs K for maintaining the brakes normally set, any other suitable expansible yielding agent may be employed,and we illustrate one such agent in Fig. 3 of the drawings. This consists ot' a collapsible and expansible chamber, O, formed exactly like the chamber M, inasmuch as it comprises a semi-cylindrical dish, M', secured to the inner face of the beam q, provided with a diaphragm, M2, affording a yielding bearing for thev adjacent semi-cylindrical or convex end, n, of the frame I, and the chamber O communicates with the conduit N through abranch tube, m', containing a check-valve, Z, arranged toopen by air pressure introduced into the chamber through the tube m', but to close the passage against the escape ofthe contentsof the chamber O.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, the chambers M and O are shown to be equally expanded, each bearing wit-h the same pressure against the opposite ends ofthe frame, which is thus maintained in a central position with `relation to the limits of its shifting capacity, this being the condition of the modified form ot' my appliance, wherein the brakes are oij and the initial condition of the apparatus. Before starting the train the pneumatic contents of the chamber M on each car are exhausted, thereby removing all resistance from the flexible diaphragms of the chambers O, which, since the contents of the latter, owing to the presence of the check-valves l, cannot escape, ex-l pand against the frame, as in the ease of the resilience ofthe springs K, and shiftthe frames I to pull the rods L, and thus set the brakes. To release the brakes air is admitted into the conduit N, whence it enters the chambers M only, until theV pressure therein equals the pressure in the chambers O. The admission l of compressed air into the chambers M moves the trames I against the chambers O to produce the relative conditions of expansion shown in Fig. 3, wherein the brakes are released by relieving the pull exerted through the rods L.

Ordinary stop-cocks, k, are provided on the branch tubes m', to permit the contents of the chambers O to be exhausted `whenever occasion requires. l

A hand-wheel, P, connected with the long arm of the lever E, alords means for releasing the brakes by hand, when required.

We are aware that it is not new to employ mechanism for operating the brakes of 4cars comprising springs for maintaining the brakes normally set and pistonsin cylinders actuated by fluid-pressure to release them; and we do not therefore claim, broadly, mechanism for this purpose.

What we claim as new, and desire 4to secure by Letters Patent,- is

l. The combination of the brake mechanism of a car, a shifting frame, I, provided with a convex bearing, n', on one end, a spring at one side ofthe frame, operating to hold it normally in a position to set th-e brakes through the medium connecting it therewith, and a chamber, M, at the opposite side of the frame, to communicate with an air-pressn re supply,and comprising a dish, M, covered by a tlexible diaphragm, Mz, bearing against the projection n on the frame, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

. 2. The combination, with a car, of brakebeams B, carrying brake-shoes, levers E and E', having their short arms connected, a lever, G, connected on' opposite sides of its fulcrum with the long arms of the levers E and E', a

shifting frame, I, connected with the lever G, springs K, confined against one side of the frame and operating to maintain the brakes normally set, a conduit, N, and a collapsible chamber, M, communicating with the conduit -N and confined against theopposite side of the frame I, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

MORTIMER B. MILLS. FRANK W. MILLS.

In presence of GEORGE C. CooK, J. W. DYRENFORTH. 

